The Insurance Industry: Going the Way of the Dinosaurs?

It seems unthinkable. The US insurance industry is massively profitable. Everyone and everything needs coverage. What could lead people to worry that the business is heading down the Dodo’s path?

Simple, says our featured author: it’s all because “risk is becoming predictable.” He sees four threats to the industry as we know it: AI and the “trillion-sensor economy”; the always mysterious blockchain; the ecosystem approach, whereby insurers could become risk-removal services; and finally, the Internet of things and insurance connectivity. Quite a brainful.

Taking these brave new ideas in sequence, we first encounter AI and the trillion sensors. Here, our author believes the influence will first be seen in healthcare. In this case, the ‘sensors’ are at work in genetic screening, which is advancing to a place where a person’s risk factors can be identified for a lifetime. AI-centered solutions could help insurers develop a focused risk-abatement plan for each client. Privacy issues have been raised, but the author believes the benefits are solidly in both parties’ favor.

Next up is everyone’s favorite opacity, the blockchain. He makes an interesting claim: the blockchain will help build trust. Current systems for storing the highly personal data on which the insurance industry runs are vulnerable to all manner of hacking and misuse. The blockchain would eliminate this threat by decentralizing data storage. Techniques to distribute this data are being developed that are claimed to be fully automated and nearly foolproof. Blockchain, it seems, is our secure friend.